Minor Top 5 Shuffling in Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20

Aside from some minor shuffling thanks to Johns Hopkins’ 12-11 victory at Maryland on Saturday, there isn’t much movement near the top of the final rankings update of April.

It could be a much different scenario at this time next week.

There are three top-10 teams playing to lock up regular season titles against ranked opponents in their respective conferences. Georgetown can run its winning streak to 10 with a victory over Villanova on Friday. Army can complete a perfect run through the Patriot League when Boston University visits West Point that same night. And Cornell plays host to Princeton with the top seed in the Ivy League at stake.

Then there’s the last of the ACC’s string of monster matchups, as Notre Dame looks to secure a season split with Virginia when it visits Charlottesville in Sunday’s only game.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I MEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Air Force (9-5), Bryant (9-3), Jacksonville (11-3), Lehigh (8-4), Navy (7-7), Saint Joseph’s (9-4), Utah (9-4), Vermont (8-4)

UPCOMING GAMES

No. 1 Notre Dame 4/30 at No. 3 Virginia
No. 2 Duke 4/29 vs. No. 16 Syracuse
No. 3 Virginia 4/25 at Lafayette
No. 4 Penn State 5/4 vs. Michigan/Ohio State (B1G semis)
No. 5 Johns Hopkins 5/4 vs. Maryland/Rutgers (B1G semis)

No. 6 Maryland 4/29 vs. No. 15 Rutgers (B1G quarters)
No. 7 Cornell 4/29 vs. No. 13 Princeton
No. 8 Army 4/28 vs. No. 19 Boston U
No. 9 Georgetown 4/28 vs. No. 11 Villanova
No. 10 Denver 4/28 at Marquette

No. 11 Villanova 4/28 at No. 9 Georgetown
No. 12 Penn 4/26 at Albany
No. 13 Princeton 4/29 at No. 7 Cornell
No. 14 Delaware 4/29 at Towson
No. 15 Rutgers 4/29 at No. 6 Maryland (B1G quarters)

No. 16 Syracuse 4/29 at No. 2 Duke
No. 17 Yale 4/29 at Harvard
No. 18 North Carolina 5/6 vs. No. 1 Notre Dame
No. 19 Boston U 4/28 at No. 8 Army
No. 20 Michigan 4/29 vs. Ohio State (B1G quarters)

HOT

Penn (+5)

It took until the penultimate game of the regular season, but the Quakers have finally won back-to-back games for the first time this season. Injuries have played a part in Penn’s uneven season, and the usual imposing schedule (which includes losses to Cornell, Duke, Penn State and Villanova) also factored in.

Yet Penn has locked up a spot in the Ivy League tournament. It can clinch a winning season with a victory at Albany on Wednesday. And it is coming off back-to-back routs of Harvard (15-9) and Dartmouth (17-6). Toss in a top-10 RPI, and the Quakers aren’t too far off expectations as the regular season winds to a close.

Princeton (+5)

The Tigers have also gotten things sorted out, and they also have consecutive victories over Dartmouth (17-7) and Harvard (17-11) to their credit. Princeton has won four of its last five, and while it doesn’t have as complete a profile for an at-large NCAA tournament berth as Penn (at least not yet), it is playing as well as it has all season.

About that “yet” you just read about: Princeton heads to Ithaca on Saturday with a chance to clinch sole possession of first place in the Ivy League. It’s a game that will feature two of the nation’s top attackmen: Cornell’s CJ Kirst and the Tigers’ Coulter Mackesy, who has 40 points (26 goals, 14 assists) over Princeton’s last five games. A Princeton win elevates the Tigers and could lead to another big jump next week.

NOT

Rutgers (-4)

Offense has just gotten so hard of late for the Scarlet Knights, who followed up an 11-8 loss to Maryland in their home finale with a 14-5 setback at Penn State on Friday. It was the fewest goals for Rutgers against a conference opponent since a 12-2 loss to Syracuse when both schools were still in the Big East.

Playing without injured attackman Brian Cameron didn’t help the offense, though if the rest helps get him ready for the Big Ten tournament, it’s a sound trade by Brian Brecht and his staff. But Rutgers is going to need to score — and probably in double digits — if it is to extend its season beyond Saturday’s trip to Maryland.

Maryland (-3)

The story of the night in College Park on Saturday was Johns Hopkins closing a chasm on its rivals, going from losing by 15 at home last year to securing a 12-11 victory over the Terrapins this season. But just as it illustrates how the Blue Jays have improved, it was also a display of Maryland’s season-long inconsistency.

This really is not a shock, considering how much production the Terps graduated. But it’s also a reminder that unlike the last couple years, it’s hard to tell which Maryland team will show up. At their best, the Terps have stunned Virginia on the road, shut down Penn State in the second half and throttled Rutgers. But they haven’t won more than three in a row all year and the time to get on a roll has arrived.

IN

Michigan (No. 20)

Regardless of what happens in the Big Ten tournament, this might go down as the year the Wolverines turned the corner. As interesting as they were in March with victories at Delaware and Harvard, their split of four games says plenty more.

Michigan drubbed Maryland on the road, then scrambled to force overtime the next week at Rutgers before falling 13-12. It led by three against Penn State heading into the fourth quarter before ceding the last five goals, then blew open a tie game at the half against Ohio State by scoring 10 goals in the third quarter of a 19-14 victory.

The Wolverines’ reward? The chance to run it back against the Buckeyes in the Big Ten quarterfinals Saturday.  Win that one, and a trip to Baltimore to get another crack at Penn State awaits.

OUT

Jacksonville (was No. 10)

The Dolphins absorbed a 15-11 loss to Air Force at home on Saturday and are now 3-3 against teams with winning records. The gem in Jacksonville’s profile is its Feb. 11 upset of Duke, and it also upended High Point and Robert Morris. The three losses came against Johns Hopkins, Utah and Air Force.

It’s a team with a potent offense, and it will be a factor in next week’s Atlantic Sun tournament. But the Dolphins need both a victory over Bellarmine and an Air Force loss to Robert Morris to secure a bye into the A-Sun semifinals.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 0: February 6

• Week 1: February 13

• Week 2: February 20

• Week 3: February 27

• Week 4: March 6

• Week 5: March 13

• Week 6: March 20

• Week 7: March 27

• Week 8: April 3

• Week 9: April 10

• Week 10: April 17